Sneaking in writing at work...any tricks?

Wilde_at_heart said:

ASK your IT friend...

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Que? Was this reply to me? I'm a little confused.

Y'all are making me feel paranoid, even though I know it's mostly okay here. Phew.

cbenoi1 said:

Depending on the company, some employment contracts specify that anything developed while at work (using company equipment, and/or during company time, and/or while representing the company, etc) is rightfully owned by the company. Copyrights and all. I've seen it more than once.

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Yep, I've seen that too. And I've seen it enforced.

Add to that the point that when you're at work and being paid you're being paid to work for the company that's paying you, and if you have to sneak your work past your boss then you're behaving unethically, and I can't work out how this is acceptable or advisable no matter which angle I look at it from.

i couldn't possibly write with students in the classroom. Not even on my plan hour because I have to keep one eye and one ear on the hallways. But if my grading is caught up I will sneak to AW or The Block on my plan time.
Writing in Spanish first does help my novels because I have a tendency to be wordy, oh, hell, gushy, but thinking in another language really makes me focus on what counts.
I don't worry about the ethics of writing my stuff during the faculty meetings. The coaches read newspapers and other teachers grade papers. --s6

I don't know. If I had a well paying office job, I wouldn't really want to do anything to put the position in peril.

Department stores on the other hand... unless you're expected to be consistantly helping customers, you might be able to get away with it if you're careful. A lot of department stores these days will only fire you if you're doing something that could possibly get them sued. As long as you're working at all, they could care less. You should be warned, though, they may cut your hours. Badly.

EDIT: I will admit I did stuff like that from time to time in High School- doodling, writing or researching things I was interested in while in class...

You can password protect Word Documents as well. So, keep that in mind (for privacy sake).

I had a job where there was a LOT of downtime and you were expected to keep yourself busy. We were allowed to surf the web or read a book, so writing wasn't a huge concern. That said, I too didn't want my writing seen by others, so I PW protected my documents. As for writing, I usually adjusted the size of the WORD screen so that it took up the bottom 1/3 of the screen and scaled the font to around 75% size.

Again, some jobs require that you "babysit" the phone or station during a GY shift and a lot managers will not care if you surf, read a book. Heck, I had one that let us play video games on our laptops that we brought in. While this might shock some people, it happens quite a bit. Saying, "Well you should be working not writing," may be true where you work, but not always true for other places. Besides, I could be misreading, but I think she asked "how" she can do it, not "should I do it." (Could be wrong in my interpretation.)

I actually quit a job because there was too much downtime and (believe it or not) after a while, surfing the web gets super old. I wasn't writing much at all then (a little). I wish I had, though. I ended up leaving because I needed more stimulation. The job was manning a help desk phone line. Sometimes, we would get 1-2 calls an hour. Sometimes 20. We couldn't get up and just go wandering around or look for something to organize or clean. We had to stick by the phones. (This was before cell phones were popular, so keep that in mind.)

From February of 2002 to September of 2005, I worked in a small office for a non-profit organization as the receptionist. I eventually got promoted to full-time.

When we got high-speed Internet access, I used my comp to write fan fiction and save Sailor Moon-related artwork, and then I e-mailed it to my home address. I got busted only once, when I neglected to clear my browser history before leaving one day, only to discover that the big boss from the main office visited the next day. Even then, I got only a warning.

I left the company on September 30, 2005, after they had cut me down to part-time and had me share the receptionist position with a new hire (sometimes, there was an overlap in our shifts, and I was left without a place to sit).

The office was closed last September, due to budget cuts.

Other than the fact that a coworker and I got to goof off whenever we were left alone in the office (which was surprisingly often), I don't miss it.

Now, I work in retail, so I can't write while at work.

... not a concern, at present. Got downtime and am allowed to make use of it as I like. On previous jobs where that wasn't the case I jotted notes in a small notepad like you. A trick is to give coworkers and your boss the idea that you're mental. Talk to yourself on occasion and do weird things. (Making paper figurines for instance.) Then when they see you writing in a pad they just think you're being weird and writing down some cryptic code. That works really well. They leave you alone. ps. A better place to stash your notepad is in a shirt or blouse pocket. Then it's always with you.

Ken said:

A trick is to give coworkers and your boss the idea that you're mental. Talk to yourself on occasion and do weird things. (Making paper figurines for instance.) Then when they see you writing in a pad they just think you're being weird and writing down some cryptic code. That works really well. They leave you alone.

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I really hope that's an attempt at humor.

srgalactica said:

Oh, I hear ya. I have days where I'm swamped and don't even go on the internet and then there are days where there is *nothing* to do. My employer doesn't mind us surfing the net or doing whatever. Like I said, I'm just shy about my writing, so the password protection would be cool.

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Yeah, I like it. Back in the day, I'd "Select all" then use a system font to make all the characters into squares so anyone who opened it would only see that. But, for some reason, it doesn't work now. If you switch to wingdings or something then save and close, I can't revert back sometimes.

For me, I never liked anyone lurking over my shoulder. It used to drive me crazy. Even at home with my family I am very private--not because I have something to hide but because I don't like people seeing my work in progress.

At my current job, I run lab sessions sometimes which is essentially babysitting participants while they play video games. There's a good 1-1.5 hours in there where I hop online, do homework, write a little, etc.. I have had other jobs where there was total lock-down and no time to really write. Each type of job has its merits and flaws.

If you're worried about getting caught while writing at work, you probably shouldn't be writing at work. If you really want to write at work, quit working and be a writer.

Jeff

I write notes on my phone. Or on my hand. Sometimes on the arm when I am in the groove.

My job has very little responsibilities. Aside from mundane tasks to waste time and getting radio calls throughout the day, no one seems to care what I do. I literally have social conversations with the management about their home life and just shoot the breeze. I was even seen jotting in a notebook and my main supervisor figured I was writing down prices that I would need tickets for, I dismissed it and said I was sorting and was putting away things in the stockroom, something that requires no notepad. She didn't inquire any further. So for me keeping notes when my ADHD kicks in is no problem.

Personally, I've mastered the ability to write very small and barely-legibly. Not sure how much it protects what I write from prying eyes, but it makes me feel a little more comfortable. I don't have decent computer access at work, so when there's downtime, I'm stuck to a pen and paper. The good thing about a notebook or some paper is that it can easily be stowed in a pocket.

On occasions when I write at school, when I'm using a computer in the library, I usually work in Google docs. At school, I don't really worry about anyone seeing what I write, but I find that Google docs is just the most convenient way, especially when it comes to accessing what I wrote when I get home. And I like that anything I write is protected in my account.

I work retail, so unless I'm on break, not much chance to write at work. I use my phone on breaks, write little bits in notes. I could probably get away with doing that during my watching the fitting room times.

When I interned in offices, we were allowed to go on Facebook and we often had g-chat open--we were very unpaid--but I never wrote during office hours. Couldn't really go there while working.

I wrote out a chapter on folded halves of paper on Monday. I work retail. My supervisor actually doesn't mind as long as I'm still doing my job. I did have a couple of customers look at me weird. One even seemed offended that I folded it up and stuffed it in my pocket when she came up to the counter. Um, nosy much? I don't do it that much so since it's hard to concentrate and find good time in a retail environment.

If I'm at a less busy location I'll just bring my laptop with me. (Did this last week, actually.) I look really young so most people just assume I'm doing school work and don't bother me. Unless of course they need help, then they're always so nice about it. I don't correct them most of the time. I find that a lot of people are quite nice to students.

In fact, if I work on my story in a composition book or notebook or notepad of some kind, people make the same student assumption.

*Note to self: no more making notes on scraps of paper in front of people...for some reason that makes them think you're weird...*

Maybe you can snick some idea through internet, then you should rewrite it some of the words to get it done.

shadowwalker said:

I really hope that's an attempt at humor.

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... sure. An attempt at, err, humor

Ken said:

... sure. An attempt at, err, humor

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Glad of that, even if it did fall flat. Otherwise it would sound like someone thought using derogatory terms and stereotypes was okay.

shakeysix said:

i couldn't possibly write with students in the classroom. Not even on my plan hour because I have to keep one eye and one ear on the hallways. But if my grading is caught up I will sneak to AW or The Block on my plan time.
Writing in Spanish first does help my novels because I have a tendency to be wordy, oh, hell, gushy, but thinking in another language really makes me focus on what counts.
I don't worry about the ethics of writing my stuff during the faculty meetings. The coaches read newspapers and other teachers grade papers. --s6

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LMAO ... I thought I was the only one who did that (logging on to AW from work.). The secret for me is that if I can't sleep, I tend to grade or lessons. As such I am often caught up or ahead, except at the beginning of the month when boards have to be changed.

I write at work if I get the chance - no pressing projects and nothing urgent to do. Sadly this isn't very often now in this age of cuts and I'm now effectively doing 3 jobs!!
When I can though I write it in an email. Easy to hide and then I send it to myself so instantly backed up. When I get worried about the paper trail I write in word and save it to my usb stick.

Unless your work is very strict I wouldn't worry. Some people spend time chatting, we spend time writing!

This is how Tim Burton ended up making Nightmare Before Christmas for Disney--he doodled some of the characters while he was at work.

I write at work all the time.

In my job, I regularly run queries on large quantities of data that may take 30 minutes or more to complete. Often, I can't do anything until the query is complete because whatever my next step is going to be requires that data.

In those times, my boss doesn't care what I do, so long as at the end of the day, everyone gets their reports.

If I were going to get in trouble for using company time or resources, I would only write on breaks. I like my job, and particularly, having a steady paycheck, too much to risk it for a few more minutes of writing.

srgalactica said:

Sooo...*glances around office innocently, while whistling* Do any of you attempt to get any writing done at work? If so, do you have any sneaky writing-on-the-job tricks? ie, writing on a small notepad that you can ditch into your drawer quickly?

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I haven't read the other responses yet, so I might be the stick in the mud here, but my employer does not pay me to write creatively. Therefore, any writing done at work is on my lunch hour only.

I am way too busy at work with legal writing to write my stories.

For me, it would be unethical to sneak in writing when I'm supposed to be in my office working.

ETA: I now see that I'm not the only curmudgeon on the issue, but I'm glad some of you have the okay from your bosses to do whatever you please on downtime. I've been with my law firm for nine years and I have never had down time before. Ever.

I work from home.

At my last office job, I had to be there from 10 to 6, accomplish a particular set of tasks, and be available for other assignments related to my department, if any. Time covered by the first of those things but not occupied by the other two, I used (in part) for writing; I used Google Docs. I was ready to switch to another window or tab if anyone was behind me.